Chapter 22: Too Much Information

Nancy stared at him in shock,

' What did you say?'

' We are half brother and sister, she was my mother too'

' But…but where have you been all theses years?'

' I told you she was a different person, I should probably tell you the whole story, then maybe a small part of you will understand, Nancy felt numb she could she it now, the similarities between their physical appearances, they both looked like her…their mother,

' I shall start at the beginning, I am born, born and abandoned with a woman, who I later found out worked with mother at the house, she left me there, I don't know the exact reason, even when I revealed myself to her she wouldn't answer why she'd abandoned her child so carelessly' Nancy could see a mixture of pain and anger flicker across his face, but she stayed silent and let him talk,

' When I was three she came back, said she wanted to see what I looked like, she barely reacted to me all she said was "he doesn't look like his father", there were no apologies for her desertion, she just shooed me outside while she spoke to the woman, of course I was curious so I listened outside the door, she said she was engaged and he had no idea about her past or me and she wanted to keep it that way, she paid the woman to raise me as her own and never tell me or anyone the truth, the woman I grew up calling mother later told me she took the money but not because she agreed with the plan, but because she longed for her own child and the day our mother turned up she thought she was going to lose me, that is my mother as far as I'm concerned' Nancy nodded, she could understand his anger, how could the warm loving woman she'd called mother treat her own flesh and blood that way,

' Well I grew up of course and I asked questions about who my father was, she told me he had died of an illness before I was born so that is what I grew up believing, until one day when I well to do old gentleman turned up on the doorstep, my mother froze as if she'd seen a ghost, it was of course her old employer and my real father, he'd come to seek out our mother, it conspires that he'd known she was expecting me and paid her to leave for fear his wife would find out, now his wife was dead and they'd had no children he wanted to find his old mistress and their bastard child, the second he clapped eyes on me he knew who I was, his first words when he regained the power of speech were "you look just like your mother", well I was of course confused believing the woman next to me was my mother and my father was long dead, I argued with the man, called him insane and when I turned to scoff at his insanity with my mother…'

' What?' Nancy was shaking, she felt completely conflicted she should hate this man for what he had done, and a large part of her did, but another part of her had already started to bond with her half brother and she pitied him,

' Her eyes told me everything he was saying was true, I demanded to know the whole story and between the two of them they told me it, he said he wanted to take me to live with him and raise me the way he always should have' he crouched in front of Nancy as he spoke, she could see him shaking as well,

' I was torn I knew mother didn't want me to leave, but I wanted to know how it felt to have a father, so I went with him, I visited my mother every weekend, but I now had a father, it was new and exciting to me, he took me everywhere, splashed out and bought me expensive clothes, holidays anything I wanted he bought, but the both of us were curious to see what my real mother and his old flame was doing, so we hired a man to track her down we had to wait a while but eventually he found her and with her the rest of you' Nancy swallowed it felt like she was swallowing a razor, her arms and legs felt like lead from the shock,

' So my father and I talked about it, did we interrupt her new life and upset everything for her? Did we ignore the information and lead a life without her? We conversed about it for weeks weighing up the pros and cons, my father became ill from the stress and to me it was just our mother coming back into his life and destroying something else I cared about, I was angry and I decided to confront her' he looked up at her, she kept eye contact with him as he continued,

' I followed her one day and confronted her, I didn't need to tell her who I was, she knew instantly who I was and she refused to speak to me'

' What did she say?' Nancy's voice was hoarse and she began shaking again,

' She told me and I quote "I never want to see you again, I don't want you in my life, I wish you'd never been born" Nancy gasped in surprise at the venomous words her mother had uttered, she knew he was telling the truth he was unflinching and unblinking,

' So you killed them all because of her?'

' No, I came here to talk to her again, and then your father intervened asking what was going on? Who was I? Why was I here? He then accused her of having an affair with me, ridiculous, I finally snapped at all his questions and accusations and told him everything, he didn't believe me at first and begged her to tell him I was lying, she didn't say a word, well he was understandably furious, he started to attack me and I fought back, a red haze came over me, to tell you the truth Nancy I don't remember anything after I started defending myself, when I finally calmed down and looked around your father was dead, but not by my hand'

' What do you mean not by your hand?'

' Mother dearest stepped in during the fight and beat him over the head with a poker from the fireplace, it was her that killed your father not me, but there was so much blood I knew instantly this couldn't all be from your father, I got up and went to the kitchen where I saw mother pulling your father and siblings bodies onto the kitchen table, she'd killed them all' Nancy went limp her entire body failed her she went into shock,

' She couldn't have? She…she wouldn't?'

' She did, I know you don't want to believe me but its true, at that point my anger returned to me, she took away my siblings, I never even got a chance to know them, before I knew it my hands were wrapped around her throat when I removed them she wasn't breathing'

' But wait what about the man that was working for you?'

' What man?'

' The man with the burnt face you killed his family so he'd work for you?'

Robert laughed,

' Oh Nancy we are in a mess aren't we? That man was Jeremy Slater, my mothers brother, he didn't work for me he just had a penchant for the macabre, he never had a family, he arrived shortly after I'd strangled mother, shortly after he'd arrived I realised she wasn't dead she was still breathing it was faint but it was there, I panicked, I was still only a young boy, he told me to go back to my father and that he'd take care of it, well as you know his way of taking care of things was to hack everyone up and make the place a massacre, when I found out what he'd done I knew he'd get a taste for it, I told my father everything, we contacted my mother and told her what happened, she in turn contacted her old friend Hugo Styck and asked him to notify your grandparents so you wouldn't get taken straight to the workhouse, then when we knew you were safe we moved to another country to start a new life, but when I read of the murder of Lenore Wilson, I knew it was him, we travelled back here and I have been watching you ever since, knowing you were keeping company with Sherlock Holmes was a comfort, when I found out about him kidnapping you at the opera, I admit rage took over, I did kill him I'm sorry but I will not lie to you, I killed him to prevent him hurting you, when my mother found out she was furious, she disowned me and told me she would have her revenge, she was the one who put Lenore's body in the house, my father and I stepped up our watch on you, then the murders of all the young women started and I knew she'd come for you, I knew you'd come here, so I've waited here to make sure I was with you and she couldn't hurt you'

' That's a lot of information to take in'

' Nancy, you and my father are all I have in the world and you're both very important to me, if I can prevent someone hurting you I will by any means necessary'

' You really think she'll come for me'

' I'm certain of it, now we should leave'

' Oh don't go yet Robert, it's only just beginning' Nancy and Robert turned to see an elderly woman in the doorway holding a gun,

' Hello Catherine' Robert placed an arm in front of Nancy protectively,

Nancy's mind began piecing things together, Catherine, brothers surname was Slater, never married, that made her Catherine Slater, the name Styck had given her!